Community-based water management competencies of agriculture and technology college teachers: A needs assessment

This research aims to study, assess, and prioritize the needs regarding learning competencies in community-based water management programs in Thai agriculture and technology college (CAT) instructors. The sample group was CAT teachers who participated in a training project to promote knowledge and learning competency in community-based water management. This Activity was part of the 2023 Royal Initiative Community-based Water Management Project. The sample group of 36 CAT water management instructors was obtained by purposive sampling. The research tool used was a needs assessment questionnaire. It is a 5-rating scale consisting of three aspects including knowledge (K), attitude (A), and practice (P). The index of item objective congruence (IOC) was 0.88, and the reliability of the questionnaire was 0.97. Data analysis used descriptive statistics, including the mean and standard deviation (SD), and analysis needs assessment with the modified PNI index value (PNImodified). The research results found that teachers have high expectations regarding learning competencies in water management, both individually and overall. In contrast, the Actual condition of both individual aspects and the overall picture is moderate to high. Moreover, for the needs assessment regarding teachers’ competencies in learning about water management, the aspect with the highest PNI value was cognitive competence (0.21), followed by practical competence (0.16) and affective competence (0.10).